Chapter Six

Tobianna and Ash in the Key Lair.

Young Ash didn't need the frantic signals Tobianna was sending him with her eyes to know to keep his mouth shut and play along. He stepped forwards, holding out his hand.

"I'm Ash, pleased to meet you, Hannah." He said, reflecting how odd it was to be greeting so formally a woman who had shared his bed and some of his closest secrets. He wasn't sure why she had called herself by a different name, but then guessed that maybe Tobianna was such an unusual name that she was worried that it might draw unwanted attention to her. She shook his hand, and he could feel the relief she felt that he'd got the message by the lack of tension in her grip.

"Come with me, Ash, and I'll show you around." she said in a brisk and professional tone of voice. She began leading him away, and satisfied, the other man went away down the opposite corridor. Young Ash opened his mouth to speak to her, but Tobianna immediately started talking again.

"After the fiasco of nine years ago, the security here was stepped up, with cameras and microphones in the ceiling, so if trouble starts, one of the security people can know about it and get people straight there." Young Ash nodded as he got the message: their speech could be heard and they were probably being observed.

"Are there sleeping quarters here?" Young Ash asked. "I don't fancy having to commute between here and Pyrite every day."

"Absolutely." Tobianna commented.

"I feel sorry for the security guys, they'll have to put up with my snoring every night from now on." Young Ash commented. Tobianna laughed.

"Oh no, the sleeping area is below ground and so deep in the facility that there's no need to listen or watch in there. Security will have picked up intruders well before they got to that point. Our shift ends in five hours, and I'll show you where to doss then." Young Ash nodded.

"I'm going to take you through to the Shadow Process room." she said. "I can show you what goes on here, and if you're lucky, you'll get to see Admin Lovrina." She smiled at him, but Young Ash could see the fire in her eyes. She knew, he suspected, more than Rachel thought, about her mother's suffering at Lovrina's hands, and wanted to get her own back on her mother's behalf. Tobianna was hoping to show him the enemy.

She was in luck: two scientists stood either side of a silver-dressed woman with two huge pink pigtails that reached almost to the floor. She turned at their entrance.

"It's me, Hannah, Lovrina ma'am, showing the new trainee, Ash around, ma'am." She said. Lovrina beckoned them forward. Obediently, the two stepped forward.

"I so see." Lovrina said in a syrupy tone of voice. "So you decided to bring him to show him the Process I so created myself. I am so proud of it. As you can see, it is so efficient. Pokémon go in one end and Shadow Pokémon emerge the other end. Come to the other end, and I will show you." She walked, hair swaying in her wake, to where poké balls were dropping out of the end of the machine. She picked one up.

"None of these will ever be able to be purified; these are all XD series Pokémon." She looked closely at Young Ash, and reached out to touch his upper arm briefly. "So you are Ash, the new trainee." She looked him up and down appraisingly, and gave a little smile, as if she liked what she saw. "I think you will so become a valued member of our team, so I would like you to have this as a gift." She handed him the poké ball she was holding, and then moved her hand almost absently up to ruffle his hair. Young Ash had to grit his teeth to avoid grimacing and pulling away. "Your hair is so thick and lustrous. What genetic combination gave you such hair?" She dropped her hand from his hair, to Young Ash's relief.

"I am told you so have a good battle strategy and technique, so I can see you will use that Shadow Pokémon well. If you do very well, I may choose you to replace Naps if he fails me again. I would feel so much safer with an expert battler like you looking after me." Young Ash could feel Tobianna next to him tensing up, so was rather glad when Lovrina was called by one of the scientists. Paying them no further attention, she walked back around to the front of the machine. Tobianna beckoned to Young Ash and they went back out.

Tobianna pointed out other things to Young Ash and took him through various corridors. Young Ash knew Tobianna well enough to know her moods, and it wasn't difficult to miss the fact that she was seething mad. As she showed them around, she pointed out things that he realised could be used as landmarks, and he was glad, for if he were to memorise the way out of here, he would need them. As time went by and they worked their way up the pyramid's floors, Tobianna's rage subsided some.

She showed him the control panel on the top, by which the voltage could be altered, explaining that too high a voltage could shut the entire plant down, which was why a scientist down below had charge of the system lever needed to alter the voltage. Then she took him back down, to a door set in the wall of the top area they had been standing on.

"This is the other Admin in charge here, Admin Gorigan. He insists on seeing all new trainees in person. He's very big and imposing, but he won't bite you. Come, I'll take you in."

Gorigan was a huge man, and the man who had brought him had not exaggerated when he'd told Young Ash that Gorigan's biceps were as big around as Young Ash's waist. Young Ash hoped he'd never be called upon to fight him hand-to hand, because he suspected those powerful arms could break him in half like a twig if need be. Gorigan looked him over, grunted, and said "If he's as good as Smarton said he is, then he'll do." and dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Tobianna didn't say anything, just turned and left. She spoke again once they'd gone to one of the lower levels of the building.

"We're off shift in a few minutes, so I'll take you to the sleeping area, show you your bed, and get settled in." she said. Young Ash nodded. They were headed down towards the lower basement levels when they heard a sugary voice call "Hannah? Ash? Could you see me one minute?" Tobianna turned, and Young Ash sensed that her anger was roused again.

"Yes, Lovrina ma'am?" she asked. Lovrina walked over. Again she gave Young Ash an appraising look, and Young Ash grew uncomfortable at the intensity of her gaze and the places it lingered just a little too long. He thought he understood the reason for Tobianna's fury.

"I was just going to ask if you could do me one little favour, and take Ash to see Gorigan. He does so like to meet all the new trainees." She said.

"I've done that already, ma'am." Tobianna told her.

"Also, I'll need your details. If you could write down your full name, address, age and skills, perhaps Hannah can drop them, by in the morning?" She suddenly looked at Tobianna, looked at her intently.

"That's so odd. You remind me of somebody." She said, scrutinising Tobianna's face closely. "Your parents were called Steve and Josephine Parr and are both dead? You were born in Celadon?"

"Yes." Said Tobianna. Lovrina shook her head.

"Then it's just a coincidence." She said. "Don't forget to get Ash to write those details, I'll want them on my desk by tomorrow." Tobianna nodded.

"Yes, ma'am." She said. Turning to Young Ash, she said "Come on, I'll take you down to the sleeping quarters."

Lovrina went into her office, and pulled out Tobianna's file and looked through it. For a moment she did nothing, but then pulled her computer keyboard towards her, accessing 'Hannah's' computer records. Bringing up her photo, she gave it a long look before opening another window and logging on to the Pokénet….